# This Week at Royco #1 - Doors Open 

*Closed testing is over. The protocol is starting to open to the public.*

By [Royco](https://paragraph.com/@royco) · 2026-05-05

royco, dawn, defi, tranching, apyx, microstrategy, strc, risk, management, weekly, update, farming

---

TL:DR
-----

*   [Apyx](https://x.com/apyx_fi) is live, with 28.72% APR for junior participants and $1.66M in TVL within 24 hours.
    
*   Nine more markets are in the pipeline.
    
*   In response to the DeFi scares, we published our eight-layer security stack.
    

* * *

**First Public Market Live: Apyx**
----------------------------------

apyUSD pays 12.22% APY, backed by dividends from MicroStrategy and Strive. Royco splits that yield in two:

*   Seniors are earning 9.32% APY with 15% drawdown protection.
    
*   Juniors are earning 28.72%, the premium for absorbing losses before Senior is touched. More than double the underlying yield, in exchange for sitting at the front of the risk.
    

$1.68M flowed in during the first 24 hours.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/b1be36e0ff9786e78663e02e9e33c38a24bccf41813805c6c757e40c52ed7e01.png)

* * *

**The Initial Cohort**
----------------------

We announced nine more markets coming soon. The list covers yield-bearing stables, market-neutral synthetics, structured credit, tokenized real-world assets, and GPU-secured lending.

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/c414d542970622e11573b2d7ef989e98a8a879d72f324799a4ca4d081ca5e006.png)

* * *

**Security Stack Goes Public**
------------------------------

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/f47e9ba417b0c53494f43ba93b9ab9dbf77696c3f01a69115ad504be745ce9d9.png)

The full eight-layer security stack is now public, with a [dedicated section](https://dawn.royco.org/security) on our website:

*   Sanctions and compliance screening.
    
*   24-hour settlement queue on every withdrawal.
    
*   Continuous on-chain monitoring by [Hypernative Labs](https://x.com/HypernativeLabs).
    
*   Timelocks and Security Council with instant-pause authority.
    
*   Formal verification by Certora.
    
*   Independent audits from [Hexens](https://x.com/hexens), [Cantina](https://x.com/cantinasecurity), and [Certora](https://x.com/Certora).
    
*   $250k [bug bounty](https://immunefi.com/bug-bounty/royco/information/) on [Immunefi](https://x.com/immunefi).
    
*   App and infrastructure hardening.
    
    * * *
    
    **Tranching, Risk, and the Aave Question**
    ------------------------------------------
    

[Jai Bhavnani](https://x.com/jaibhavnani), cofounder of Waymont and Royco contributor, joined an X Space this week with other builders. The conversation covered:

*   Aave's rescue after the Kelp incident.
    
*   The real price of risk in DeFi.
    
*   Where tranching fits in the next cycle.
    
*   The need to source yield outside DeFi and bring it onchain. Worth listening.
    

Link to the Space here:

[![User Avatar](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/6b3f88f891e6b38d2b0b8f58b36847a2e953a0cfb9fd6566a855fa7885fc652e.jpg)](https://twitter.com/2lambro)

[2Lambroz 🐑 (🧑‍🍳🥩🤌)](https://twitter.com/2lambro)

[@2lambro](https://twitter.com/2lambro)

[](https://twitter.com/2lambro/status/2048954509100232939)

Is it a grim future for DeFi? Or is it actually full of hope? with [@jaibhavnani](https://twitter.com/jaibhavnani) and [@SaulCapital](https://twitter.com/SaulCapital) [x.com/i/broadcasts/1…](https://t.co/VS03hGO4pU)

[18](https://twitter.com/2lambro/status/2048954509100232939)[

2:36 AM • Apr 28, 2026

](https://twitter.com/2lambro/status/2048954509100232939)

* * *

Royco is just getting started.

---

*Originally published on [Royco](https://paragraph.com/@royco/this-week-at-royco-1-doors-open)*